Did you know there are some pretty cool facts about the history of Barbie? For instance, Barbie was actually given a full name. Her full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. Additionally, Barbie was given a birth location and high school as well, those being Willows Wisconsin and Willows High School respectively. Barbie was also named after the daughter of the founder of giant Mattel, Elliot and Ruth
Friday 25 November 2011
History of Barbie Doll
How the Barbie doll began:Barbie was never really born, of course, she sprang to life as a teenage fashion model on March 9, 1959, when inventor and Mattel toy company co-founder Ruth Mosko Handler introduced Barbie dolls to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
Soon after, Mattel began selling the Barbie doll in stores and advertising Barbie on television. Mattel was the first company to market toys directly to kids by sponsoring children’s television programs with ads targeted to young consumers.
How and why the Barbie doll was created:
Feminists have criticized the Barbie doll for promoting an unrealistic body ideal for women and potentially damaging the self-image of young girls. Ruth Handler, the Barbie doll inventor, said she conceived the Barbie doll as a way to help girls imagine their futures as adult women and to bolster their self-image.
"I believed it was important to a little girl's self-esteem to play with a doll that has breasts," Handler said.
Considering her stated goal, it seems ironic that Handler modeled her Barbie doll after Lilli, a sex toy for men, which she had seen during a trip to Germany.
Growing up Barbie:According to her official biography, Barbie grew up in Willows, Wisconsin where she attended Willows High School. She has four sisters: Skipper, introduced in 1964, Stacie (1992), Kelly (1995), and Krissy (also 1995), and a brother named Todd (1966). Barbie’s parents, George and Margaret, appeared in a series of Barbie books published a few years after Barbie made her debut but they were not released as dolls.
Barbie loves animals. Her first pet was a horse named Dancer; since then she’s had 49 more pets including dogs, cats, ponies, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion cub, a giraffe, a zebra, and other horses.
How the Barbie doll got her name:Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. Inventor Ruth Handler named the doll Barbie after her 15-year-old daughter, Barbara.
Handler’s daughter also helped inspire the idea for the Barbie doll, because Handler had noticed that as a young girl Barbara often chose to play with adult paper dolls instead of the baby dolls that were popular toys for girls after World War II.
Working Barbie:
Barbie has an impressive resumé.
In her first 50 years, Barbie held more than 100 jobs. After her debut as a fashion model, Barbie went on to become an astronaut, compete as an Olympic athlete (in both gymnastics and swimming), and run for president (four times, always as an independent) on a platform of “opportunities for girls, educational excellence and animal rights.”
Barbie has been a rock star, a doctor and a paleontologist; a police officer, a fire fighter, and a circus performer. She has been a cowgirl, a NASCAR driver and an American Idol Winner.
It seems there is nothing Barbie can’t do.
Soon after, Mattel began selling the Barbie doll in stores and advertising Barbie on television. Mattel was the first company to market toys directly to kids by sponsoring children’s television programs with ads targeted to young consumers.
How and why the Barbie doll was created:
Feminists have criticized the Barbie doll for promoting an unrealistic body ideal for women and potentially damaging the self-image of young girls. Ruth Handler, the Barbie doll inventor, said she conceived the Barbie doll as a way to help girls imagine their futures as adult women and to bolster their self-image.
"I believed it was important to a little girl's self-esteem to play with a doll that has breasts," Handler said.
Considering her stated goal, it seems ironic that Handler modeled her Barbie doll after Lilli, a sex toy for men, which she had seen during a trip to Germany.
Growing up Barbie:According to her official biography, Barbie grew up in Willows, Wisconsin where she attended Willows High School. She has four sisters: Skipper, introduced in 1964, Stacie (1992), Kelly (1995), and Krissy (also 1995), and a brother named Todd (1966). Barbie’s parents, George and Margaret, appeared in a series of Barbie books published a few years after Barbie made her debut but they were not released as dolls.
Barbie loves animals. Her first pet was a horse named Dancer; since then she’s had 49 more pets including dogs, cats, ponies, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion cub, a giraffe, a zebra, and other horses.
How the Barbie doll got her name:Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. Inventor Ruth Handler named the doll Barbie after her 15-year-old daughter, Barbara.
Handler’s daughter also helped inspire the idea for the Barbie doll, because Handler had noticed that as a young girl Barbara often chose to play with adult paper dolls instead of the baby dolls that were popular toys for girls after World War II.
Working Barbie:
Barbie has an impressive resumé.
In her first 50 years, Barbie held more than 100 jobs. After her debut as a fashion model, Barbie went on to become an astronaut, compete as an Olympic athlete (in both gymnastics and swimming), and run for president (four times, always as an independent) on a platform of “opportunities for girls, educational excellence and animal rights.”
Barbie has been a rock star, a doctor and a paleontologist; a police officer, a fire fighter, and a circus performer. She has been a cowgirl, a NASCAR driver and an American Idol Winner.
It seems there is nothing Barbie can’t do.
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